RALEIGH, NC Jan. 3, 2013 – The NC State women’s basketball team put forth one of its best defensive efforts of the season, but the third-ranked Duke Blue Devils prevailed with a 67-57 ACC victory Thursday evening in Reynolds Coliseum.

“I’m really proud of our kids, their intensity and their fight,” said NC State head coach Kellie Harper. “I think we have a chance to beat any team in our league playing like this. Duke is a really good basketball team, but we’ll try again next time.”

Junior forward Kody Burke led the Wolfpack (8-6, 0-2 ACC) with 15 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Marissa Kastanek added 12 points, three assists and two steals on the night.

“I feel like our guards really just look for me,” said Burke. I feel like a lot of my points come from our guards being unselfish.”

In a first half that featured an abundance of loose balls, turnovers and a high tempo of play on both ends of the floor, the Wolfpack forced the Blue Devils into nine turnovers, while blocking three shots and holding Duke to just 31 first-half points.

NC State shot 9-of-29 (.310) from the field, 1-of-8 (.125) from three-point range and 9-of-12 (.750) from the free throw line, while Duke was 15-of-36 (.417) from the floor, 0-of-6 from beyond the arc and just 1-of-3 from the foul line in the half.